Persistent rain washed out the third round at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Royal Johannesburg yesterday as Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra kept his lead without playing a shot.
The tournament has been reduced to 54 holes with play set to resume at 6.30am today.
Only 32 of the 79-strong field got onto the scorecard yesterday morning, swinging in the rain before the course was deemed unplayable.
The decision to cancel the rest of yesterday’s play was made at 2.30pm.
The conditions had forced organisers to change the sodden par-five sixth to a par-three, but only two golfers got that far yesterday.
Of the 1,422 holes that were supposed to be played yesterday, only 88 were finished.
Even in the wet, the first hole — the easiest of the course on Friday and second-easiest on Thursday — remained friendly. Haydn Porteous scored an eagle while another 13 carded birdies, against four pars and one bogey.
The third hole spat out one birdie (out of 10 attempts), while Darius van Driel, one of the two to finish six holes, was the only one to birdie holes four and five.
The other nine surrendered just seven birdies.
Less rain today?
While rain is being forecast for today, it should be considerably less than yesterday, when more than six inches were recorded.
Branding for the Stinger Golf Club — the team of South African golfers on the LIV Tour — has been visible at Royal Johannesburg this week, and not only by the three team members in action here.
Branden Grace, three shots off the pace, Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester have obviously been wearing their branded shirts, as have several fans. But it is believed that they’ll be announcing a new name in the new year because of a trademark issue with the Stinger name in the US.
At least two other LIV teams, the Fireballs, headed by Spanish star Sergio Garcia, and the Ironheads, captained by Kevin Na, are reportedly facing similar problems.
The speculation is that the Stinger branding will be outdated by the time they tee off in the LIV South Africa event at Steyn City in March.
Their five-part documentary, Greens & Gold: A Lekker South African Sports Story begins airing on SuperSport this evening.
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